Making sense of Big Data

It’s weird to see your face floating on MIT homepage, but I’m honored that it was.

“Every time you use your cellphone, there is a little breadcrumb that’s stored that can be used in a lot of different ways to help improve human lives,” says Jameson Toole, a second-year PhD student in MIT’s Engineering Systems Division.Photo: Allegra Boverman

When Jameson Toole explores the streets of Boston and Cambridge, he sees problems waiting to be solved — and he believes some solutions are already in our pockets.

“Mobile phones are amazing data sensors,” says Toole, a native of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and a second-year PhD student in the Engineering Systems Division at MIT. “Every time you use your cellphone, there is a little breadcrumb that’s stored that can be used in a lot of different ways to help improve human lives.”